With the popularity of netbooks so high it looks like software vendors are reacting by offering new products targeted specifically at the platform. One of the first is Kaspersky Lab which has made available a new version of its latest security suite that will only work with netbooks.

The offering is called Kaspersky Security for Ultra Portables and it is limited to only work with machines using Intel Atom, Celeron-M, or VIA c7-M processors. If you try it with any other chip it just won’t run. Kaspersky has confirmed compatibility with the Asus Eee PC (90x, 100x), Acer Aspire One, MSI Wind, Samsung NC10, and the HP Mini. You are also limited to only using it with a Windows OS (XP Home, Pro, and Pro 64-bit).

Much like with their desktop version of Internet Security you get anti-virus, anti-spam, and anti-hacker protection, along with parental controls, but the price has been reduced. The desktop edition costs $59.95 for a year, but the Ultra Portable edition costs just $39.95, however, it is listed as an introductory price.

Kaspersky say that this edition has been optimized for netbooks, but doesn’t go into specifics as to what has actually been done to optimize it. You can check out the full feature list at the Kaspersky Lab website.

Matthew’s Opinion
Depending on how you look at the price it is cheaper to buy the Ultra Portable edition if you only use a netbook. However, the desktop edition comes with a 3-user license, so if you have a main PC at home and another laptop it works out cheaper to spend the $59.95 and use it across all three machines. The desktop edition will run on your netbook, it just won’t be optimized for it (whatever that means).

Netbooks need as much protection as any other PC connected to the Internet. They aren’t as powerful as a standard laptop so I am hoping Kaspersky has decreased the load on the netbook when running this security suite without compromising the level of protection.

If you are thinking about using this software for your netbook security I’d act quickly. I suspect the price may go up $10 before too long.